page_title: Arthur T. Benjamin
section_title: Mathemagics
hierarchical_section_title: Arthur T. Benjamin / Career / Mathemagics
caption_attribution_description: English: 'Lightning Fast Calculator' Arthur Benjamin performs at the 1983 CSICOP Conference in Buffalo, NY
context_page_description: Arthur T. Benjamin is an American mathematician who specializes in combinatorics. Since 1989 he has been a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, where he is the Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics.
  He is known for mental math capabilities and "Mathemagics" performances in front of live audiences. His mathematical abilities have been highlighted in newspaper and magazine articles, at TED Talks and on the Colbert Report.
context_section_description: Benjamin has long had an interest in magic. While in college he honed his skills as a magician and attended magic conferences. At one of these conferences he met well-known magician and skeptic James Randi, who greatly influenced Benjamin's decision to perform Mathemagics shows for live audiences. Randi invited him to perform his mathematical tricks on a television program called Exploring Psychic Powers Live, co-hosted by Uri Geller. Randi also encouraged Benjamin to become involved in the growing skeptical movement. He attended early meetings of the Southern California Skeptics in the 1990s, which later evolved into the Skeptics Society. It was at these meetings that he met Skeptics Society President Michael Shermer, who would later become a co-author on three of Benjamin's books.
  Benjamin regularly performs his Mathemagics program for live audiences at schools, colleges, conferences, and even at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. These shows feature Benjamin performing mathematical feats like rapidly squaring numbers with up to five digits and correctly identifying the day of the week on which audience members were born based on their birth dates.
  He was also featured in Mathemagics, a multimedia disc released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994, which consists largely of short demonstrations and lessons by Benjamin in mental math and Mathemagics.
caption: Arthur Benjamin performs at the 1983 CSICOP Conference in Buffalo, NY.
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